Jess Graba, coach of Suni Lee: I’ll always put money on her.
Lee’s fourth-place finish in the all-around is a triumph more than a year in the making.
“For my first all-around competition, I was just telling them how happy and excited I was because this is my first time back on national team since Tokyo,” Lee said afterward. “So it feels so good to just be back.”
The 21-year-old has been dealing with a kidney-related health issue since early 2023. It cut Lee’s sophomore campaign at Auburn University short and held her out of international competition for Team USA last season.
As Paris 2024 has neared, Lee and longtime coach Jess Graba have taken a measured, strategic approach to bring her back into all-around competition for the first time this week at the U.S. Championships.
Over two days of competition, Lee delivered eight solid routines. The sole hiccup came in Sunday’s opening rotation when she tripped on the runway of her vault, bailing out and sitting down.
Shaken up by the incident, Lee found comfort in Biles who stood next to the uneven bars a rotation later cheering for her Tokyo 2020 teammate.
“She just came over to see if I was okay and basically just helped boost me up and get my confidence back up, because at that point, I was kind of like thinking that this was over,” Lee explained. “So, it was really nice having her in my corner, and she’s just been so supportive.
“To have her on bars to giving me advice, it just felt so good because I know I was having a hard time and she was just there to help lift me up. So I’m super grateful for her.”
Lee bounced back in a big way, earning a 14.500 on the bars and then a 14.900 on the balance beam. Both scores were the highest on their respective apparatus Sunday.
“Mentally, that’s who she is,” Graba said. “I mean, I told her that after beam I’m like, ‘That’s who you are. That’s what makes you, you. I mean, everything can be stacked against you, and I’ll always put my money on her.'”